Vehicle wheel-guard.



E. J. BUCKINGHAM.

VEHICLE WHEEL GUARD.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 29, 1914.

Patented June 15, 1915.

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E. J. BUCKINGHAM.

VEHICLE WHEEL GUARD.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 29. 1914.

Patented June 15, 1915.

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VEHICLE WHEEL-GUARD.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 15, 1915.

Application filed June 29, 1914. Serial No. 848,034.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, EDWARD JOHN BUCK- INGHAM, a subject of the King ofGreat Britain, residing at Brixton Oval, in the county of London,England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in VehicleWheel-Guards, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to the construction of spring controlled pivotedsafety guards for vehicle wheels, especially those of heavy motorvehicles, such as motor omnib-uses, the chief object of the inventionbeing to provide a light construction applied independently to eachwheel which will effectively prevent any person being caughtand drawnunder the wheel.

According to my invention a spring con trolled guard, pivoted'at itsupper end to an arm or bracket and extending forwardly at its lower endsis provided with a safety wheel or roller, spring mounted ona bracket onthe back of the guardso as to meet the vehicle wheel onbackward movementof the guard and adapted to yield vertically against the pressure of thespring. The safety roller when it meets the wheel rotates in theopposite direction and tends to drive away from the wheel any objectwhich may lie on the ground in front, as in safety roller arrangementsalready proposed, and owing to its position between the guard and wheel,it prevents the former meeting the ground in case of the wheel enteringa rut The guard is preferably made in two parts, theupper one beingpivoted to the supporting arm and the lower hinged or pivoted to theupper part so as to move inwardly against the pressure of a spring, a

small roller at the side of a forward extension or ledge of the guardmeeting thepavement or any obstacle at the side of thevehicle and.preventing injury to the guard.

The arm or bracket carrying the guard is made in two parts pivoted toeach other and arranged to allow the guard to move upwardly around thepivot against the pressure of a helical spring arranged on a downwardlyextending rod carried by the movable part of the arm. This arrangementof spring joint permits of ample vertical movement to prevent injury tothe guardby irregularities of the road. A jointed supporting arm with aspring has already been proposed in conjunction with a spring wheelguard pivoted on the end of the arm so as to allow ofa limitedtransverse movement against the pressure of a spring. In associationwith the front wheel guards I may also use a transverse guard with abottom ledge, extending across the front of the vehicle and carriedeither by the vehicle body or the front axle. This guard may bepivotally mounted on the vehicle frame just in front of the wheel guardsand so arranged that on an object striking the front guard it abutsagainst the wheel guards and presses them back, moving the safety wheelsagainst the vehicle wheels in the manner already described.

In order that the said invention may be clearly understood and readilycarried into effect I will describe the same more fully with referenceto the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a front elevation,and Fig. 2 a side elevation of a guard applied to the front wheels of avehicle; and Figs. 3 and 4c are similar views of the back wheel guards.

A, A are the vehicle wheels.

13, B arethe front wheel guards, made in two main parts pivoted orhinged together at b so that the lower member B can bend inwardly ortoward the axis of the vehicle. V

C, G are the back wheel guards similarly constructed in two parts.

D is the transverse guard extending across the front of the vehicle.

Iteferring to Figs. 1 and 2, the wheel guard B, B is mounted on the armor bracket E through the hinged extension 6, to the end of which it ispivoted at b. The arm E is clamped to the head F of the axle barrel f,which head. is carried in the fork g of the fixed axle G in the usualmanner. The end of the arm E is forked to embrace the head F and aclamping plate 6 at the back of the head serves for clamping purposes. Aspring e and rod 6 connect the extension 6 to the arm or bracket E sothat the guard B, B can lift around the hinge 6* against the pressure ofthev spring 6 in case of necessity. The spring 6 connects the upperguard member B to the bracket E and keeps the guard forward but allowsit to yield on meetingan obstacle.

The lower guard member B carries the safety wheel or roller H between itand the front of the vehicle wheel'A, this roller being mounted on thebracket h by means of the fork it and spring k in such a manner that itcan rise over stones or. small obstacles wlthout aifectmg the guard Atthe-outer lower corner of the guard member B is placed a smallhorizontal rollerb 'themb ect of which is to avoid injury of the guardby the curb orother. obstacle meeting lt.

sidewise; Should the vehicle be brought close to the curb and the guardcome-intoto the-front of thevehic'le frameAj ZLIlCl'lS convenientlyconstructed of wooden slats with ledge cl" at its lower edge to catchside the limit ofthe guard-Dwhile the other 'guard B; B is turned behindthe guard" D.

The wheels A are protected whetherin any obstacles which-maybe met.O'n'meeting an obstacle it is-pressed back into' contact with the guardsB5B which allow it to-yield ina resilient manner for a limited distance.7

The operation of the front guard is as follows:-In ordinarystraightfrunning of' tlievehicle the relative positionof tlie'transv-erse"anduvheel guards is-as shown iii-Fig. 1, the steering" wheels A lyingsymmetrically behind the'edges ofthe guard-D; on turn: ing, however, thewheels A take up an angu-- lar positionsothat one of the wheel guards13, 13 is turned, alongwiththe wheel, out

straight "or steeringposition,- since the l I guardsB,B"turn-withthem.If'an obstacle meets' the transverse guard D it abuts against coies-ormisa-tent ma be obtained for five cents mushy afldres'Si-ngethe c6b v w washlngtom D-cw the front edge of the guards-B, B- which allowit'to yield resiliently for-a short distance-to reduce the shock. As theguards all slope back, any backward movement of the lower part causesthe hottom edge to appreach the grounchso that there lsnodanger of afoot; passenger or am obstacle of sub-- st'a'ntial ,d1n1ens10ns gettingunder the guard.

If one of the wheel guards B meets an Q obstacle it is pressed back,turning around the pivot 5 against the force of"thespring b unti'l thesafetyjroller H ineetsjthe wheel A. The'rolle'r H" rotates in theopposite dr rection to the vehicle" wheel and thus pre- "vents anyarticle-(such as a" portion of the dress of a footpassengerxwho may havebeen struclrby the vehicle) getting caught under the wheel, theoppositely rotating roller acting; to drivethe article away from' thewheel.

Referringito the wheel guard for the rear wheels, shownin: Figs. 3 "and4, the arrange-' ment is practically thes'ameexceptfor slight differencein mounting the arm of bracket E on'the shaft F and the-fact that theguard does not need to turn on steering the-vehicle:- The arm E iscarried by the table 6 encircling the shaft F just inside the wheel. Theguard B, B is somewhat shorter than that used for the front wheels andthe pivot I) may be placed nearer the ground, the arm extension 0beingcurved downwardly for thispurpose;

ters Patent of the United States is 1: A? safety guardfor vehiclewheels, comprising a ,pivote'ch guard'pla'ce'd in front of the wheel andprovided with; a forwardly extending bottom platform, a bracket ontheback of the said guard, a safety roller mounted soa's-tomoveve'rtic'al'lyin the said bracket and to meet the vehicle wheel onVhat I claim'and desire to secure 'by Letrearward movement" of theguardand a spring eontrollmgr'the' said roller. i

2. a K safety guard for vehicle wheels, com

prising a' guard composed of anupper and alow'er member, a supporting'arm to which the upper" member is-pivoted, an} approxi-r matelyhorizontal hingej connecting the lower to the uppenmembenand'adapted toallbwthe lower memberf to yield transversely A of are vehicle, springholding the lower member in normal position an'd a springmaintaining'th'e guard; resiliently in for ward position on itssupporting arm:

safetygiiardfor vehiclewheel's, com- 'PIlSIHg a guard composed of twohmged members, supporting; arm made 1 in two pivoted parts to one ofwjhich the-upper member is pivoted and springs at each pivot so arrangedthat theguard can=yieldresili ent'ly sidewise, rearwardly and upwardly.

- l-Z A safety guard for' vehicle wheels, comprising a pivoted andspring supportedf uardacom osed of two members h'lng'edto- Y getherunder spring controljthe' lower mem ber yieldingsidewise against thepressure of thejspring', land} a" small roller; at the lower outercorner of the'lower"guardanember;

5: ll safety guard'for' vehicle wheels',}con1- prising afixed arm,anext'ensionipivoted to the' sa-id armlso= asto turn upwardly, stoplimiting dewnward .inovement ofthe-extem and spring connecting.-the'up'per' end of theguardjto thefixed arm. 't'

;s'ion'; a'spiralspring andrrod connection'be a. tween the: arm andextension, a guar cb piv- V oted 011 the: frontend of the arm extensionIn testimony whereof I affix-my signature 1 ina presence of:tworwitnesses;

EDWARDJOHN"'BUeKINeHaM.

VVitnesse s i M2 GLASS;

WARD E mmissio'ner i of Paton-ti,

Us I

